Odisha: CM orders inquiry over electrocution of seven elephants

The jumbos died after coming in contact with a sagging live wire Saturday.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Sunday ordered an inquiry by the crime branch into the electrocution of seven elephants in Dhenkanal district even as one officer was dismissed and six others were suspended by their departments in connection with the incident.

Additional Director General of Police (Crime Branch) Santosh Kumar Upadhyay said the incident would be probed from all angles to ascertain the role of different agencies.

The jumbos died after coming in contact with a sagging live wire Saturday.

A crime branch team went to Dhenkanal after the chief minister's order.

Six officials, three each from Central Electricity Supply Utility (CESU) and forest department, were suspended and a junior engineer of CESU dismissed.

From CESU, a general manager, one sub-divisional Officer and a lineman were placed under suspension while a junior engineer was sacked, an official said.

Similarly, a forest range officer, a forester and a forest guard were suspended, he said.

"Besides ordering a crime branch inquiry into the incident, the chief minister has ordered appropriate action in case of any criminal negligence," an official in Chief Minister's Office said.

An FIR was filed by Assistant Conservator of Forest, Jitendranath Das against five CESU officials including the four against whom departmental action has been taken, Dhenkanal SP Santosh Kumar Nayak said.

Seven jumbos, including a tusker and five females, were electrocuted as they came in contact with an 11-KV power line near Kamalanga under Sadar forest range.

The death of the elephants drew sharp criticism from opposition parties with both the Congress and the BJP accusing the state government of "utter negligence".

BJP leader and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan slammed the state government for the incident and claimed that earlier too several animals were killed due to a lack of coordination between the forest department and the CESU under the energy department.

"It is a matter of regret that one hand of the state government is not aware of what the other hand is doing," Pradhan tweeted.

Senior BJP leader and former MP Rudra Narayan Pani also hit out at the government and sought the resignation of both forest and energy ministers. He said both energy and forest departments were "responsible" for the incident.

Blaming power authorities for the tragedy, Forest and Environment Minister Bijayshree Routray said on Saturday the CESU had been warned about the matter, but no corrective step was taken.

Non-rectification of sagging lines and non-cabling of transmission lines led to the tragedy, Routray and Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Sandeep Tripathi said.

The PCCF said the incident took place as the energy department failed to take a step to raise the height of the high-tension wire, which was hanging much below the height stipulated by guidelines of the union government.

Energy Secretary Hemant Kumar Sharma said a three-member team was probing the incident and on the basis of their report, appropriate action would be taken.

The line acted as a temporary feeder for a railway construction site in the area where the incident took place, he said, adding that meetings between the forest and the energy departments were being held on a regular basis to ensure proper coordination.

Environmentalist and wildlife expert Biswajit Mohanty said there were 200 places in Dhenkanal district where high-voltage electric wires were sagging at a low height and left unattended.

Despite repeated letters to the CESU by the Forest department and stakeholders, nothing tangible has been done till date, he said.